Adams, James Ring and Frantz, Douglas. A Full Service Bank: How BCCI Stole
Billions Around the World. New York: Pocket Books, 1992. 381 pages.
Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau called it "the largest
bank scandal in world financial history." The Bank of Credit and Commerce
International was present almost everywhere around the globe, but was
regulated nowhere. By taking advantage of a system of shell corporations
and off-shore branches, BCCI built a huge Ponzi scheme with money from
depositors, many from Third World countries. They also laundered money for
drug cartels and arms merchants, and performed banking services for other
undesirables, including the CIA and terrorist Abu Nidal. In the U.S. they
were able to operate through First American Bankshares after paying fat
"bonuses" to Clark Clifford and Robert Altman. Jimmy Carter and Bert Lance
were also involved with BCCI.
The authors get bogged down with too much detail and too many
descriptions of minor characters, particularly when describing the U.S.
Customs Service undercover operation that resulted in the first indictments
against BCCI in 1988. But on the whole this book is an excellent overview of
BCCI, and is more readable than similar books on banking fraud, a topic
which can quickly become rather technical. James Ring Adams is a journalist
who specializes in banking, and Douglas Frantz reports for the Los Angeles
Times from its Washington bureau.
ISBN 0-671-72911-X
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